May 19--Three Chicago home cooks will test their chops (and slices and dices) on Season 6 of "MasterChef," which premieres Wednesday.
Forty home cooks will be shown traveling to Los Angeles to present their signature dishes to the judges in the two-hour episode that airs at 7 p.m. on FOX. Judges will cut the group of 40 hopefuls, which include Chicagoans Dan Collado, Nate Love and Tommy Walton, by about half in the first episode.
Contestants who make the cut will compete in challenges each week to win the title of "MasterChef," a cookbook deal and $250,000.
"Every single hour you are on your toes and on the lookout for the next horrible thing," Walton said.
Celebrity chefs Gordon Ramsay and Graham Elliot, who owns Graham Elliot Bistro in the West Town neighborhood, will return to judge this season's dishes. Newcomer Christina Tosi, a pastry chef and owner of Milk Bar in New York, will replace Joe Bastianich, a New York restaurateur who co-owns Eataly in the Near North Side neighborhood.
To earn a spot on the show, potential competitors were judged on pre-made dishes at open casting calls, including at Hotel Allegro in the Loop in October.
We talked by phone to the Chicago contestants who made the top 40 but they were not allowed to give away spoilers:
Dan Collado, 29, Wicker Park: A native of Palos Park, Collado is a design engineer with Flexco, a Chicago-area company that manufactures conveyor belt parts, and a runway and print campaign model with Chosen Model Management, which has an office on the Near North Side.
Over the years, Collado has added culinary skills, including making fresh pasta, to his diverse r鳵m頡nd cooks for his friends every chance he gets. Collado said he enjoys home cooking so much, he hardly ever eats at restaurants.
When asked for restaurant recommendations, "my response is always you can come over to my house," said Collado, a University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign graduate.
Collado said there is drama this season on "MasterChef" but not among the Chicago contestants.
"When we first got to know each other, we became friends right away," Collado said.
Nate Love, 29, Lincoln Park: A former medical device salesman from Rockford, Love said he's never cooked in a professional kitchen but worked as a busboy in college. "Now, I guess my life is food," Love said.
He said this year he began running Armitage Development, which offers menu consulting and technology help to restaurants. Love also writes the blog dapper-dining.com to show Chicagoans how to dress well while they are eating and cooking.
"I just like wearing a sport coat" to restaurants, Love said. "I think it just kind of shows a clean-cut vibe."
Love said his favorite Chicago restaurant is La Scarola in the Fulton River District neighborhood because he likes the Italian food and the ambiance, and he plans to eat in all 77 Chicago community areas.
When asked what "MasterChef" fans should know about him, Love said, "I'm a passionate home cook who makes sure everyone eats great food in Chicago."
Tommy Walton, 52, South Loop: A longtime fashion design teacher at the School of Art Institute of Chicago, Walton was also a finalist for the "Check, Please!" hosting job in 2013. In his "Check, Please!" audition tape, Walton said he served as a sous chef and line cook at two River North neighborhood restaurants, cooking Italian food and French spa cuisine. "I was at the forefront of food porn," Walton said in the audition tape.
But in a phone interview with the Tribune, Walton downplayed his restaurant experience.
"That was a very brief foray. It wasn't that successful," Walton said. "I don't know if you would actually call me a sous chef; I was a prep cook. I never had an official title."
A DePaul University graduate, Walton was also a contestant on "The Cut," a 2005 reality competition to design for Tommy Hilfiger. He said "The Cut" and "MasterChef" were very different experiences though he applied his fashion sense to the cooking competition.
"I have an eye for opulence and luxury," Walton said. "I have a fixation on color and decor and that applies to what I call 'couture on a plate.'"
Walton promised he is part of the drama this season on "MasterChef."
"I'm sure some people might think I've got a bit of a sharp tongue," Walton said.
